1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to golf clubs and, more particularly, to a golf putter having a resilient striking face. Specifically, the present invention relates to a golf putter design wherein the resilient striking face is adjustable to the needs of a golfer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical round of golf involves 18 holes of play with par being generally 72 strokes for most courses. Preferably, a hole of golf involves a drive shot, a fairway shot and two putts. In such an example, 36 strokes of the 72 strokes of a round of golf utilize a putter. Of course, for most golfers the putter will be used even more often depending upon the golfer's ability. Consequently, a great deal of attention is focused on the putting aspect of the game of golf. In response to this, the design and construction of golf putters have undergone significant changes over the years.
Putters have been constructed from a wide variety of materials and have exhibited a multitude of designs over the years. A golf putter typically has a metal head secured to a shaft with or without a hosel, and the head generally has a striking face with a loft of several degrees. This loft is preferably designed into the face due to the fact that when a ball is putted, it initially moves across the green by sliding. As the frictional forces of the green cause the spin rate of the ball to increase, the ball eventually stops sliding and begins to spin or roll, and it is while the ball is rolling that the putt has the greatest amount of directional stability due primarily to the inertia created by the rolling ball. Consequently, it would follow that the sooner the ball begins to roll, the greater the control a player has over his putt. This is particularly true on very well kept greens. By utilizing a putter having a negative loft, then, top spin is imparted to the ball when struck which increases the tendency of the ball to roll rather than slide.
A number of designs have been created to increase this top spin upon striking of the ball. One area of club head design is in the use of inserts at the striking face of the putter. These inserts are intended, at times, to change the loft angle and in other instances to provide a different resiliency due the use of different materials in the insert. An example of putter or golf club head designs utilizing inserts or materials to change the resiliency of the face of the head include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,562,956, No. 1,939,414, No. 4,805,922, No. 5,407,196 and a French Patent to Marcorelles.
Other putter head designs which are intended to increase resiliency of the club head as well as to provide more top spin include club head designs having cores of different materials such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 726,885. Still another technique of altering the top spin of a ball when struck by a putter involves the use of synthetic covers for today's golf ball. Since the cover of the golf ball has become harder in recent years, it has become desirable to provide a softer striking face for the putter in order to accommodate the harder ball.
Still another design for enhancing resiliency to the club head of a golf club, as opposed to a putter, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 890,836. In this patent, a plurality of strings are wound about a frame which is then secured to the face of a golf club, and once the desired tension is achieved with the strings, they are soldered in place in order to prevent unwinding and to retain the desired resiliency.
One of the other concerns in designing and using a putter is that of dwell time, that is the amount of time that the putter face and the ball are together. Different types of inserts or putter face materials maintain the ball and the putter face in contact for various microseconds at impact. In other words, some inserts for putter faces hold the ball to the face a bit longer than others. Thus, the softer the ball and/or the softer the putter face, the greater the dwell time, which increases accuracy. Moreover, increased dwell time reduces the skid time and enables a putter to provide more top spin and more quickly initiate rolling on the green. All of this enables a golfer to control his or her putts and increase putting accuracy.
Unfortunately, changes in technology have enabled ball manufacturers to provide golf balls of various different hardness and these, coupled with putters having striking faces of various different resiliencies, provide combinations of significant differences. This is added to the fact that each golfer has his or her own unique putting stance and capabilities. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a putter wherein the striking face is not only resilient to provide more dwell time and increase top spin, but would enable the golfer to adjust the resiliency of the putter face for his or her own needs or desires depending on the types of golf balls that the golfer is utilizing as well as golfer preferences. To date, such a putter head design does not exist, and it would be highly desirable to provide a putter with such capabilities.